Warm air furnace



Dec. 9, 1941. c. J. WALTEMADE WARM AIR FURNACE Filed April 14; 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CAfikE/YCE J." Mzrzwaa:

BY ATTORNEY3 Dec. 9, 1941. c. J. WALTEMADE WARM AIR FURNACE Filed April 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVENT OR. (24/95/765 J Maw/405 BY ATTORNEY .5

MANN QM Q\v Dec. 9, 1941.

c. J. WALTEMADE 2,265,501

WARM AIR FURNACE Filed April 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 4... l Q: I...

INVENTOR.

Canes/1c: J/Vurnm a ATrORNEYS Patented Dec. 9, 1941 WARM AIR FURNACE Clarence J. Waltemade, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Bryant Heater Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 14, 1938, Serial No. 201,983

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in warm. air furnaces, particularly furnaces of that type equipped with means for cleaning and humidifying the air.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of improved means for preventing the loss of heat from the furnace to the surrounding atmosphere.

Another object is the provision of means for utilizing heat remaining in the combustion gases after they have passed through the main heat exchanger, for the purpose of preheating the air entering the furnace.

Still another object is the provision of a rigid base for the various elements of the apparatus to which they may be secured and by which they may be maintained in correct relation to each other regardless of the character of the floor upon which the furnace is installed.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent as I proceed with the description of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a furnace embodying the invention, portions being broken away in order to more clearly illustrate the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section, and

Fig. 3 is a plan view with parts broken away and other parts in horizontal section.

In the drawings I have illustrated a warm air furnace having an outer casing I0 which encloses completely the operating parts and the controls. In this casing there is a removable front panel I I by means of which access is gained to the control apparatus and the burners, a removable rear panel I2 through which access may be had to the blower, and a top panel I3 which may be removed to afford access to the air filter screens and also to provide an air intake from the furnace room for summer air conditioning. These panels may be mounted at one end upon pins I4 and may be retained at the other end in 4 each instance by a spring fastening I5 adapted to be released bv depressing a push button I 6.

A rigid base for the various elements of the apparatus is provided by a pair of inverted channels I! or other structural bars which extend parallel to each other from front to rear of the apparatus. Attached to the forward portions of these channels there is a sheet metal plate I8 of heavy gauge with front and rear upstanding flanges I9 and 20. About half-way between the ends of plate I8 a vertical partition 2| is supported on the plate and extends crosswise of the furnace. Burner pipes 22 extend through suitable openings in the partition 2| and are supported at their inner ends by feet 23 which are removably fastened to the plate I8 by bolts and wing nuts 24, shown in Fig. 2. The burners 25 are removably supported on the inner ends of these pipes. The pipes 22 are connected to a manifold 26 carried by brackets attached to the partition 2|, and this manifold communicates with a main gas valve 21 which, preferably, is adapted for automatic control. The main gas line is illustrated at 28. Gas is the fuel preferred, and the drawings illustrate equipment for burning gas, but it should be understood that in some of its aspects the invention is applicable to furnaces employing other fuels.

Behind the partition 2I there is a combustion chamber 29 enclosed by a casting 30 for which the partition 2I constitutes a front closure. In a pocket provided at the front of the casting I mount a humidifying pan 3I formed preferably of cast iron and having wall surfaces in contact with wall surfaces-of the casting 30 to provide for good conduction of heat to the pan. Suitable means may be provided for maintaining a constant level of water in the pan 3|, as through a pipe 32 connected with a small water tank 33. Water enters the tank 33 through a service pipe 34. A valve in this pipe controlled by a float in tank 33 maintains a desired level in the tank, and the same level is maintained in the pan 3| by virtue of the connection between the tank and the pan. The float controlled valve is not illustrated herein inasmuch as the valve, per se, forms no part of the present invention.

A bank of tubular flues 35 extend upwardly from the top of hollow casting 30. These tubular fiues are arranged in rows, the flues of one row being staggered with respect to those of the adjacent row or rows, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The tubular portions of these fiues have a stream line cross section, as also indicated in Fig. 3, except for the end portions which are cylindrical in order to facilitate fitting them into the connecting parts. Forward and rearward fins 36 arranged parallel with the direction of flow of the air are formed as integral parts of the flues. This construction and arrangement of flues presents a minimum of resistance to the passage of air through the bank while at the same time causing a maximum scouring action and high efficiency. 1

At the upper ends of the bank of flues 35 there The which is locked down by wing nuts 38 on bolts or studs fixed in an outturned flange at the top of the header.

Within the casing and to the rear of the casing partition. At its upper end the partition 48 has travel over the two branches. In order to increase the radiation, these branches are formed 30, bank of tubes and header 31, there is a I transverse partition 40 which stands directly adjacent the flange 28 on base plate l8 and is held in contact therewith by a Z-bar 4| welded to the of a removable plate 43, the opposite edge of i which extends into a V-shaped space formed by two divergent flanges on an upright plate 44 that forms one side of the warm air outlet of the 1 furnace. Bolts with wing nuts 45 removably hold a the plate 43 in position. When these bolts are removed the plate may be slid backward to fully expose the cover 38 of the header box 31, a finger hold 48 being provided to assist in the handling of the plate.

The other sides of the warm air outlet are formed by a front plate 41 and side plates 48, the side plates extending all the way down to the base plate l8 and back to the partition 48. Front plate 41 is connected with partition 2| by a plate 49, a portion of which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly.

The space enclosed by side walls 48, rear wall 40, front wall 49 and plate 43 constitutes a separate air heating compartment within the outer casing ID. This compartment is under a slight pressure during the operation of the blower, and is made as nearly air-tight as possible'under ordinary manufacturing conditions.

To the rear of partition 40 a pair of inverted channels 50 are fastened to the main base channel l1. Near their-ends these transverse channels support brackets 5| which may be built up of heavy gauge sheet metal. They carry bearings for a shaft 52 upon which is mounted the rotor 53 of a blower. The hollow shell 54 of the blower is supported chiefly by the brackets 5| through the intermediancy of fastenings 55. The

rectangular mouth 55 of the blower extends.

through an opening in the partition 40, packing 51 being used to make an air-tight joint. The blower therefore delivers air into the forwardcompartment directly to the rear of the bank of flues, thereby causing air to flow through the bank as indicated by arrows in Fig. 3.

The shaft 52 carries at one end a pulley 58 over which runs a. belt 59 that is driven by an electric motor 60. The motor is attached to a plate 6| which is adjustably bolted to one of the with vertical fins 64.

In the' top of the furnace at the rear end thereof there is a return air or cold air connection through which air enters and flows down over the economizer flue 63 and into the blower 53, 54.. A supporting frame 58 depending from the top. of the casing and provided with inturned flanges at the bottom serves as'a support for a pair of filter screens 81, the filtering material being preferably matted glass threads. The. frame is somewhat larger than necessary to accommodate the two air filters, but the remaining space, which may vary to a slight extent owing to variations in the dimensions of the screens, is taken up by an adjustable plate 68 which has a vertical flange 69 for engagement with the adjacent filter screen. This plate may also be removed entirely after first removing thumb screws 10 by which the plate is held in place. v

When it is desired to clean the vertical .flues 35 the panel l3 of the casing-is removed, the plate 88 and the adjacent filter screen 6'! are removed, then the panel 43 is taken out or slid back out of the way, and the cover 38 is unfastened and lifted out. Then, as will be obvious. a flue cleaning brush may be directed downwardly into the flues 35 one after another, and the soot and dirt pushed down into the combus'tion chamber 29. However, before this is done, the burners 25 and pipes' 22 should be removed, so that the material forced-out of the flues will fall upon the plate I8 from whence it may be brushed forward through openings in the partition 2l.- These provisions permitting quick and easy cleaning of the In the panel 49 opposite the humidifying pan 1 3| there is an opening through which access may be, gained to they pan forinspection, cleaning or the like, this opening being covered normally base channels H. The opposite end of plate 6| I is provided with rubber feet '62 that may rest on the floor which supports the furnace. This pro-' vides a resilient motor support and deadens the noise of operation. 1

- An economizer flue 83 is bolted to headerjbox 31 around an opening in the rear sideof the box.

This flue extends through suitable openings in partition" and outer casing l0, by which it is partially supported. Exteriorly of the casing a connection is made with the smoke pipe. not shown. This economizer flue is preferably round at its ends,'but intermediate itsends it is divided into two branches, each of which in cross section is relatively long in the vertical direction and short in the horizontal. direction, so that return airrrom the rooms being heated or fresh air from outside of the house, will have a relatively long by an insulation lined plate 14 that is held in place by bolts andwing nuts 15,

' In the summertime, when it is desired to air-' condition the premises, the cool air in the basement in which the furnace-is installed may be taken into the casing by removing the panel l8 i in the top thereof, and thus cool and filtered air may be forced by the blower up through the air I conduits of the furnace into the rooms to be conditioned. This provision for filtering either return airor basement air, as may be desired,

is another important feature of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, 'I claim: 1. In a warm air furnace, a casing, a heat exchanger comprising vertical flues and a horizontal header with a removable top, said header beingmounted at the upper ends of the flues,

a compartment in the top of the casing above said header, a removable air filter screen separating said compartment from the remaining space within the casing, said compartment having a retum air opening in the top thereof, said compartment also having a second opening in flues and burner parts constitute an important feature of my invenv the top thereof above said header through which access may be had to the-filter screen and to the header after removal of the screen, and a removable and replaceable closure for said second opening, whereby the removal of said closure permits the introduction of surrounding air into the furnace and permits the cleaning of the fiues through said header.

2. In a warm air furnace, a casing, a burner,

a heat exchange compartment within said casing having an upwardly extending outlet for heated air, said compartment to one side of said outlet having a removable horizontal panel 

